NCAA

Reggie Bush says Saquon Barkley's gonna waste no time dominating the NFL ... telling TMZ Sports the ex-Penn State star is more pro ready than he was coming out of USC.

We saw Bush -- regarded by many as the top player in the 2006 NFL Draft -- and asked who was more NFL ready heading into the draft ... him or Barkley.

"I think Saquon is more ready, prepared, going in. Just because his running style to me translates right now to the NFL," Bush -- the #2 overall pick in '06 -- tells us ... "For me, my first year in the league there was a learning curve of how to run between the tackles at the NFL level."

"There was an adjustment period for about 2 years, I would say. Before I really got comfortable running between the tackles" ... RG says.

But Saquon ... Reggie says he'll be ready to go from the jump.

Saquon Barkley canceled a bunch of media appearances on Tuesday and now we know why ... HE JUST HAD A BABY!!!

The former Penn State running back revealed his girlfriend, Anna Congdon, gave birth to a bouncing baby girl on April 24 -- Jada Clare Barkley.

"Words can’t even describe how I feel right now," the 21-year-old said on Instagram.

"You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Thank God for blessing me with you in my life and into my arms. I pray that I can be the best father to you and help you grow into an amazing woman. I love you so so so much."

It's a huge week for the Barkley family ... Saquon is expected to be selected in the 1st round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

Congrats!!

Josh Rosen says he's been the target of A LOT of anti-Jewish trash talk on the field -- with some opposing players telling him, "Stay the f*ck down, you Jewish bastard."

The former UCLA quarterback opened up about the anti-Semitism in football to NFL.com's Michael Silver ... saying when it comes to trash talk, "I get a lot of Jewish things."

"My nose, particularly. I get, like, 'Stay the f*ck down, you Jewish bastard … I'm gonna break your f*cking nose, you Jew.'"

Rosen says he's unfazed by the insults -- explaining, "I really like when people try to get in my head."

"I like away games more than home games. I like silencing crowds; that's a big thing. One of my best games was at Arizona my freshman year. It was College GameDay and they had a ton of banners; they had my face on the queen from 'Frozen'. They had, 'Josh Rosen's Bar Mitzvah Wasn't Even Lit.'"

Saquon Barkley has a little bro ... and it's clear freak athletic talent runs in the family!

The top RB in the draft was working out with his high school sophomore brother, Ali Barkley -- and showing off their insane bounce.

Ali crushed a box jump that looked like it was over 4 feet tall -- and then Saquon 1-upped him ... by doing a freakin' ninja jump OVER the boxes!

In case you're wondering, Ali is 5'11", 190 lbs and will be a junior RB at Whitehall HS in PA this fall (class of 2020).

Ali attends the same high school where Saquon dominated back in the day -- rushing for 1,851 yards and 24 TDs in his senior year ('14-'15).

Ali's reportedly already getting interest from schools like Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers and Temple despite only playing in 5 games as a sophomore.

More trouble for Florida State QB Deondre Francois -- who was just busted for weed in Tallahassee ... and immediately tried to throw his GF under the bus.

According to the police report obtained by TMZ Sports, cops raided Francois' home on April 12 over a tip he may have been dealing marijuana.

Cops say Francois' girlfriend, Diamond Simone Lindsey, was in the house at the time of the search -- and if you recognize that name, it's because she's the same person who accused the QB of domestic violence back in January.

Francois was detained while cops searched the place -- but they ultimately determined there wasn't enough evidence to prove he was slangin'.

Cops did however find 17 grams of "cannabis/tobacco mixture" and "items of drug paraphernalia" on the premises and asked Francois for an explanation.

Francois -- being the quality BF he is -- tried to pin the whole thing on Lindsey.

"Francois attempted to minimize his culpability by saying that he 'can't smoke right now' and saying that the cannabis belonged to [Lindsey]."

Cops ultimately didn't buy it and cited Francois for possession. FSU coach Willie Taggart says he's met with Deondre and is handling the matter internally.

Donald Trump honored the Alabama Crimson Tide's national title at the White House Tuesday afternoon ... all the while praising their state for helping him win the 2016 election.

Nick Saban and the crew hit 1600 Pennsylvania Ave to celebrate their crazy win over Georgia back in January ... in which Tua Tagovailoa came off the bench and torched the Bulldogs in the OT thriller.

While Trump says he was impressed with the Tide's 3-point win, he boasts about his 32-point win in the Heart of Dixie in 2016 ... and says he's proud of how the players represent the "great, great state."

As impressed as Reggie Bush was with Villanova's dominating victory Monday night, he tells TMZ Sports the triumph had NOTHING on the women's NCAA final, which featured an INSANE buzzer beater.

In case you missed it -- and you shouldn't have -- Arike Ogunbowale splashed a three as time expired to put Notre Dame on top of Mississippi State, and the shot was Mamba-Jordan-esque.

We got Reggie Bush out in L.A. Monday night, and Bush says it was THAT shot and ending that was the best in college hoops, and NOT Villanova's easy dominance over Michigan.

BTW -- the big shot by Ogunbowale was her SECOND in two games ... she also hit a long shot in the final seconds to beat undefeated UConn in the Final Four.

Villanova star Donte DiVincenzo had a busy night -- after he led the Wildcats to an NCAA title, he deleted thousands of old tweets ... including one that featured the n-word.

As DiVincenzo heated up during the game, people started combing through the 21-year-old's social media history ... and found a tweet from 2011 that read, "Ballin on these n**gas like I'm derrick rose!"

The line is actually a lyric from a Meek Mill track that came out a week before the tweet -- but the Internet freaked out anyway.

There were more questionable tweets that also surfaced.

After the game, Donte confirmed the Twitter account was his, but said he didn't remember ever posting the n-word tweet.

"It’s my account, yes ... but I never remember doing that.”

Villanova reportedly put out a statement saying Donte's account had been hacked, but later took back the statement.

All of the tweets on the account have since been deleted.

Dennis Rodman is GOING IN on LiAngelo Ball ... telling TMZ Sports the dude sucks at hoops and has a snowball's chance in hell of making the NBA.

"He's not good at all," Rodman says ... "He's awful."

We pointed out LiAngelo dropped 72 points during a game in Lithuania on the day he announced he'd be entering the 2018 NBA Draft ... but that didn't seem to impress Rodman one bit.

"Teams over there [in Lithuania] just pretty much suck."

Still, Rodman says he gives LiAngelo a 10% chance at getting drafted "just because of social media."

On a positive note, Rodman says he's still sober and feeling great.

He's also excited for his son, Dennis Rodman Jr., who's a baller in his own right ... and getting offers from some of the biggest college programs in the country!

Sister Jean needs a break -- which means no raging party for the NCAA title game Monday night ... so says a rep for Loyola-Chicago.

The 98-year-old superstar is apparently exhausted after rolling with the Ramblers during the team's incredible run to the Final Four after traveling with the team for 2 weeks of March Madness.

"Sr. Jean is getting a much needed break after all of our travel and her media commitments these last few weeks," a rep for the school tells TMZ Sports.

"I am not certain if she will be watching the game in the confines of her room, but she will not be watching with the team."

As for her future, the school seems to be easing back on her travel schedule as well -- saying, "[She will not] travel with any our other teams this spring."

Here's former NCAA stud Derrick Williams answering a question that always gets asked -- but to some here at TMZ Sports, it doesn't make any damn sense.

We got Williams at LAX and after talking to him about the turmoil his Arizona Wildcats program is going through -- we wanted to know if he thought Villanova could beat an NBA team.

Before you drag our camera guy, we should say this came after 'Nova obliterating Kansas in their Final Four matchup ... looking every bit like the most dominant team in COLLEGE basketball.

Obviously, Derrick understands that COLLEGE hoops is a different game than the pros, because he says "No way" ... which is obviously the right answer.

BTW ... the worst team in the league right now is the Phoenix Suns, and they're pretty bad so MAYBE if 'Nova got hot from 3 ... they could lose by 30 instead of 40.

Ex-USC quarterback Todd Marinovich is back in jail after getting arrested twice in 4 days in March.

48-year-old Marinovich -- who has a long history of substance abuse -- was arrested on March 19 (he was released the same day) AND March 23. According to jail records, he's still behind bars.

It's unclear why Marinovich was arrested ... however, in March '17, the former star QB was sentenced to a year probation for an August '16 incident where TM was caught wandering naked in a random person's backyard -- with meth and weed in his possession.

As we reported, Marinovich sought help ... and seemed to be sober and doing well.

In fact, when we spoke with Todd back in April 2017, he told us he was fighting like hell to stay clean for the sake of his kids.

"I've been running [from my addiction] for years and it definitely came a time, especially after the arrest, the humiliation that that brought, the self-loathing that I was feeling, where I was finally willing to do the things necessary to get better."

Villanova or Michigan??

Nick Young doesn't give one single "f**k" who wins the game ... telling TMZ Sports he doesn't care for NCAA basketball.

Swaggy P hit Nightingale nightclub in West Hollywood after his Golden State Warriors beat up on the Phoenix Suns earlier in the day ... so, we tried talking to him about March Madness.

But, Young told us straight-up, "You know, I don't give a f**k about the NCAA."

He didn't explain why ... but maybe it's because his USC Trojans didn't get an invite to the tourney this year.

Interesting note ... Swaggy's not the only one who's turning the channel -- ratings are reportedly down 3% from last year.

For those who DO care ... Villanova takes on Michigan in the NCAA Championship Monday night.

LiAngelo Ball will be suiting up for an NBA team next season, and it ain't just 'cause of his talent -- so says Shareef O'Neal.

We spoke to Shareef -- a top NCAA prospect -- after LiAngelo dropped 72 POINTS in an exhibition game out in Lithuania earlier this week ... and asked if he thought the middle Ball bro was NBA-bound.

Reef told us he did, but not because of Gelo's breakout performance.

"I think he's gonna make it on a team just 'cause his brother's already there, and I feel like just the platform that that family has he can make it on a team," O'Neal told TMZ Sports.

Former Final Four most valuable player Ed O'Bannon says LaVar Ball's Junior Basketball Association is the answer for a whole host of high school hoopers, who simply don't give a crap about college.

LaVar announced the league a little while back in December, touting it as an alternative for standout prep players who have graduated from high school, but don't want to go to college.

O'Bannon is a longtime critic of the NCAA, having filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit against them back in 2014, and says he's working with LaVar on the league, because he wants players to have options.

"It's an option. Some athletes want to go to college. Some athletes want their education right away, some athletes like to go to class, but some don't.

O'Bannon actually even calls out the name of a guy who's the poster child for NOT wanting to go to school -- Ben Simmons -- saying he's the perfect example of a dude who just wanted his check.

Look away, Blue Devils fans -- Kenny Smith is basking in the glory of Duke's Elite 8 loss to Kansas ... and he ain't holdin' back!

"When UNC is out of it, my alma mater, it's like, 'Anybody but Duke.' So, I'm good right now," Kenny told TMZ Sports. "Anybody but Duke -- that's my motto."

You'd think Kenny would be more upset that his Tar Heels got bounced in the 2nd round ... but seems like Duke getting squeezed was just as sweet for The Jet.